Can You Buy Gift Cards With a Credit Card? Rules and Risks

Independent guide - not affiliated with or endorsed by any card issuer, retailer or gift card brand. Store payment rules and card agreements change; check the retailer's policy and your own cardholder agreement before you buy.

Usually yes. Most stores and brand websites accept credit cards for their own gift cards. Prepaid Visa, Mastercard and American Express gift cards are more restricted: some retailers accept only cash or debit for them, and some card agreements may treat cash-like purchases as cash advances. Check both the store's rules and your card's terms, and never buy a gift card because someone asked you to pay them with one.

Can you buy gift cards with a credit card?

For a store or restaurant's own gift card, bought from that brand, a credit card is normally accepted just like any other purchase. The situation is less predictable for network-branded prepaid gift cards, the ones with a Visa, Mastercard or American Express logo that work almost anywhere. Because these behave much like cash, some retailers limit how you can pay for them, cap the amount per transaction or per day, or require a debit card. Those rules are set by each retailer and can change, so the answer at one store may differ from the next.

The CFPB distinguishes the two types in its gift card guidance: store gift cards can only be used at the stores named on them, while network cards can be used wherever that payment network is accepted. That difference drives most of the payment restrictions you will run into.

Is buying a gift card with a credit card a cash advance?

Normally a gift card bought at a store is processed as a purchase. However, many cardholder agreements define "cash-like transactions", such as money orders, wire transfers and other items that can be converted into cash, and charge them as cash advances. Whether a particular gift card falls into that group depends on your issuer's definition and on how the merchant codes the sale. Network prepaid cards bought from some sellers are the most likely to be affected.

That matters because cash advances are expensive. The CFPB explains that you will commonly pay a higher interest rate for a cash advance than for a purchase, that interest starts as soon as the transaction happens, and that the fees can be substantial. There is normally no grace period. Our guide on how credit card APR works explains how that interest builds daily.

To check your own card, read the "cash advance" and "cash-like transaction" definitions in your cardholder agreement. If you do not have a copy, the CFPB keeps a searchable database of credit card agreements from hundreds of issuers. If a charge you expected to be a purchase shows up as a cash advance, call the issuer promptly and ask how it was coded.

Do gift card purchases earn credit card rewards?

Often they earn your card's base rate, but bonus categories can surprise you. A gift card bought at a grocery store may earn the grocery rate on some cards and only the base rate on others, depending on how the issuer defines the category and how the store codes the sale. Some rewards programs exclude cash-like transactions entirely. If the reward is the reason you are buying, read the rewards terms first, and do not count on a bonus you have not seen confirmed in writing.

Also weigh any purchase or activation fee printed on the package of a network gift card. A fee can wipe out the rewards on a small card, and our guide to cash back vs points vs miles shows how to value what you earn.

What protections do gift cards have?

In the US, federal rules cover most gift cards. Under Regulation E, section 1005.20:

• Funds cannot expire earlier than five years after the card was issued or last loaded, and sellers must give buyers a reasonable opportunity to purchase a card with at least five years left before its expiration date.
• Inactivity or service fees are allowed only after a year with no activity, no more than one per calendar month, and only if the fee is clearly disclosed on the card.
• Reloadable cards not marketed or labeled as gift cards are excluded from these gift card rules and are covered by prepaid card rules instead.

Some states give more protection. Keep your receipt and the card's packaging until the balance is used: they help if the card turns out to be empty or tampered with.

Paying with a credit card can add a layer of protection. If the merchant fails to deliver an eGift card or charges the wrong amount, your card's billing error and dispute rights apply to the purchase itself; see our guide on how to dispute a credit card charge. That protection covers the transaction with the store, not money you later hand to a scammer using the card's number.

Gift card scams: when not to buy

The FTC is blunt: no real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. If a caller, text or email tells you to buy gift cards and read out the numbers, for taxes, a utility bill, a prize, tech support or a relative in trouble, it is a scam. Stop and talk to someone you trust. Our guide someone asked me to pay with gift cards covers what to do next, and the FTC says to report it to the gift card company right away and at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Physical cards on open racks can also be tampered with before you buy them. Our guide to the gift card draining scam explains how to inspect packaging and why buying directly from the brand is safer.

A safe way to buy gift cards with a credit card

1. Buy from the brand or a large retailer, in store or on its official website, rather than from resale or auction sites.
2. Check the payment rules at checkout, especially for Visa, Mastercard or Amex gift cards.
3. Know your card's terms for cash-like transactions so a gift card does not become a costly cash advance.
4. Inspect the packaging and keep the receipt.
5. Check the balance soon after you buy or receive it, using only the official site printed on the card. Our gift card balance hub lists official balance-check pages for many brands.
6. Pay the credit card statement in full so interest does not erase any reward you earned.

Gift cards make good presents and can help with budgeting. Bought the right way, with a card you pay off each month, they carry little risk. Bought under pressure from a stranger, they are one of the hardest kinds of payment to get back.